Prince Philip’s car crash illustrates how the rest of us pay for the recklessness of the privileged

If Theresa May calls another election, prepare for a ‘short and sharp’ manifesto

Casual ageism is the last acceptable form of discrimination

Imagine how much one could get done if we all worked a four-day week

It’s a bitter pill, but women are used to having their reproductive health trivialised

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I am so grateful to this government for making my welfare and happiness such a priority, and for taking such an interest in how I’d like to spend my leisure time. This weekend, for instance, they appear to be keen that I spend as much time in the pub as possible. Even those of us who have no interest whatever in the forthcoming Royal nuptials will find that licensing hours at the 155,000 drinking establishments across the land will be extended by two hours until 1am.

The Home Office believes that “the Royal Wedding is a national celebration and the Government wishes for everyone to be able to celebrate fully”. Ignoring the tendentiousness at the heart of that statement, I can’t be alone in puzzling over the practical issues involved. The wedding takes place at noon, so are we to take it that in order to “celebrate fully”, the nation needs that extra couple of hours to turn it into a 13-hour lash?

‘Exceptional’ significance?

The government has the wherewithal to relax licensing hours in order to mark an occasion of “exceptional international, national or local significance”. Clearly there is a lot of public interest in the wedding of Harry and Meghan, an event which possibly does need to be accompanied by copious amounts of Theakston’s Old Peculier. But it’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that it has “exceptional significance”, at least not like other times these powers have been used, for instance to mark England’s heroic 0-0 draw with Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup.

‘We all work too hard, and we probably drink too hard, as well. Better to have been given the opportunity to alleviate the former’

I am not averse to “celebrating fully” myself on the odd occasion, and I’m certainly not against giving hard-pressed publicans the opportunity to enjoy an unbudgeted financial jamboree. But, at the same time as we are being instructed on how many units of alcohol to consume for a healthy lifestyle, the government seems to be sending a message to its citizens that it’s perfectly fine to go out and get completely bladdered on Saturday.

As the Home Office advisory notice puts it, the relaxation of the licensing hours brings with it “the potential risk of an increase in alcohol-related crime and disorder”, and the FA Cup final, whose kick-off time is three hours after Windsor’s match of the day “could further increase the potential risk of disorder”.

Celebrating in Britain means drinking

It’s a peculiarly British thing, and a relatively modern phenomenon, that a big public event has to presage hours of outdoor drinking, and it’s odd that the same forces of conservatism who bemoan the alcoholic excesses of certain socio-economic groups are exactly the same people encouraging us to “celebrate fully” an event that has no importance or relevance to most of the population.

I don’t want to be a curmudgeon, but it might have been more uplifting for the nation if the wedding had been arranged for a Friday afternoon, and we’d have been given the time off work. We all work too hard, and we probably drink too hard, as well. Better to have been given the opportunity to alleviate the former, rather than to exacerbate the latter.

In any case, I won’t be watching the wedding or the Cup final on Saturday. I have no interest in either. I’m grateful to Theresa May for inviting me down the pub, but I’ll be celebrating in my own way. Cheers!

Prince Philip’s car crash illustrates how the rest of us pay for the recklessness of the privileged

If Theresa May calls another election, prepare for a ‘short and sharp’ manifesto

Casual ageism is the last acceptable form of discrimination

Imagine how much one could get done if we all worked a four-day week

It’s a bitter pill, but women are used to having their reproductive health trivialised

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